Minister quits as backbiting continues
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
Reuters
Today's results are Labour's worst in a nationwide poll since the 1910 general election
More pictures
Gordon Brown faced another fierce attack from a minister who quit government today as he prepared for a showdown with his own MPs.
Jane Kennedy said she was not re-appointed as an environment minister because she refused to give a pledge of loyalty to the Prime Minister.
She said she told him in a "frank and honest" phone call this morning "I could not offer him the support he was asking for".
And she hit out at "smears" of colleagues by people associated with No 10. She added that if Mr Brown stayed on to the bitter end it would spell "the bitter end of the Labour Party".
Outside her constituency office in Liverpool, Ms Kennedy said: "He did not re-appoint me. My view was I was sacked. His view is that I resigned. In the end it was my choice to go."
Mr Brown's spokesman flatly denied the premier had asked her, or any other minister, for a loyalty pledge as another day of Whitehall drama unfolded.
Tonight Mr Brown was due to address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party at the Commons, with Labour MPs reeling from disastrous European Parliament election results.
It was their worst electoral showing for nearly 100 years after finishing third in vote share behind the Tories and Ukip.
MPs were also dismayed that the far-right BNP gained two MEPs.
With all the results from 11 regions across the UK in, Labour had managed just 15.8 per cent of the popular vote to Ukip's 16.5 per cent.
The Tories topped the poll with 27.4 per cent of the popular vote, the Liberal Democrats finished fourth with 13.8 per cent.
Despite victories in the North West and Yorkshire, the BNP had a smaller share of the vote than the Greens, with 6.2 per cent to their 8.6 per cent.
Today's results are Labour's worst in a nationwide poll since the 1910 general election, when their leader was George Nicoll Barnes and their vote share was just 7 per cent.
Mr Brown completed an unremarkable reshuffle of ministers of state before attending tonight's meeting of Labour MPs.
Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman insisted: "I do actually think that Gordon Brown and the Government have got the best strategy for helping the economy through these difficult times, and I know people are blazing angry with us at the moment.
"They told us to our face but they want us to do better, they want us to sort out the economy and they want us to sort out what they regard as the aberration of expenses."
But former lord chancellor Lord Falconer - the most senior figure so far to break cover - repeated his call for a new leader to re-unify the party.
"I think unity will only come with a leader that the mainstream votes for," he said.
Birkenhead MP Frank Field repeated his calls for Mr Brown to go, saying: Labour cannot win with the present Prime Minister.
"I was one of the seven who would not support his coronation after Tony Blair was shoehorned out of Number 10. But even I didn't think a Brown administration would be as inept as this one."
There will be particular dismay that Labour's vote has fallen so far that it opened the door for the BNP to take seats in Yorkshire and the Humber and in the North West, where the party's leader Nick Griffin was elected.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said it was "deeply uncomfortable" to see the BNP polling in such large numbers.
He said they had been the beneficiaries of an "anti-politics mood" which hit all the main parties in the wake of the MPs' expenses scandal.
"It is a sad moment in British politics," he said.
Speaking as he arrived at an international trade conference in London, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: "I think what's interesting about these results is Labour voters have not switched en masse to the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats or other parties.
"In the main, what they seem to be doing is registering a protest by withholding their vote and staying at home.
"I can understand why they're doing this.
"They are furious about the MPs' expenses and allowances at Westminster and, frankly, they're furious, too, about what they see as disunity amongst Labour MPs at Westminster.
"It is simply not possible for people to say 'I resign today, but you should vote Labour tomorrow or the day after'."
The Tories topped the popular vote in Wales for the first time, and leader David Cameron headed to the principality to congratulate party workers.
Mr Cameron, speaking outside his home in west London, said: "I am very pleased with these results. Together with the local elections, I think they show an enormous gap opening up between Labour and Conservative - almost getting twice as many votes as Labour last night.
"Now what we need is obvious, the next election should be a general election, and just as Labour has lost the trust of the British people, I want the Conservative Party to work hard to win that trust.
"Just as Labour has failed, we have to work hard to show how we can succeed."
He added: "One of the reasons we want a general election is that the British public are angry that they are being locked out of passing judgment on this whole expenses scandal. The longer we put off an election, the greater that anger will be."
Ukip leader Nigel Farage brushed off suggestions that his own party's second place was a result of Labour's unpopularity rather than voter enthusiasm for Ukip.
Mr Farage told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "According to all the experts, this is the second fluke in a row that we have produced."
Senior Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes said his party had held its ground while there had been a "significant loss" for Labour.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
If there isn't, then they may as well shut shop and go home.
This country has no effective Government and has become the laughing stock of Europe and, indeed, the World.
Labour know that if they change Leaders and force an election the majority will be out of a job.
So much for democracy.
He lurches from crisis to crisis almost on a daily basis, constantly fire-fighting, always tactics and never strategy. His 'democratic deficit' becomes more obvious every day, having never been endorsed by his party, let alone the country, he was always going to have a problem exerting his authority, but now power is slipping away from him.
Whatever anyone may think of his career to date, the UK is a modern country with sixty million inhabitants and needs to be governed effectively. It appears increasingly unlikely that Gordon Brown will ever regain the respect of his colleagues, so there is little chance of the UK achieving much in the last year of his maximum period in office. The longer the Labour Party allow this state of affairs to continue, the greater the disgust amongst the public.
i) UNHEALTHY because they have no health service to speak of in their home countries and therefore present a massive burden on public health services. Immigrants are IMMEDIATELY allowed the same level of medical treatment as UK citizens - without having paid a penny in taxes. In New Zealand Canada and Australia prospective immigrants have to take a very stringent medical which includes a HIV test. Any member of the family that does not pass this medical is refused residence. The philosophy here is they would pose too high a burden on medical services. And also why would you have an unhealthy immigrant when you could have a healthy one! The UK does not ask for ANY (yes, ANY!) medical exam - it does not even require an HIV test. It is also interesting to note that immigration activists have successfully demanded that all HIV-positive immigrants be given the same standard of medical treatment as UK citizens.
ii) UNSKILLED and require support by social services. Again, New Zealand Canada and Australia only allow immigrants who are skilled and who fit within certain skills categories. Most immigrants have to have a degree.
iii) VERY POOR and require social housing - in the past immigrants who had been in the country months were places at the top of the housing queue, ahead of UK citizens who had been waiting for YEARS. This fact is often (brazenly) denies by trendy-lefties.
iv) HABOURING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS WHICH ARE STRAIGHT OUR OF THE MIDDLE AGES - including immigration due to so-called 'arranged marriages'.
Labour's irresponsible (some would say treacherous) immigration policy has changed the very character of the UK - you only have to walk down any street to see evidence of that. Labour has become so politically correct that it does not even deport FAILED asylum-seekers. How contemptible of the British people is THAT!
Labour has brazenly refused to set any targets for immigration - even when the economic situation demands it. Look at the the response of Australia to the current financial crisis. It has cut its immigration intake by a significant amount because it places the rights of its people - its citizens above any PROSPECTIVE immigrant - that is just a fair and common-sense approach. Remember, Australia does not accept ANY unskilled migrants so one can appreciate the massive extra burden imposed by continuing unfettered immigration in the UK by people I have listed above.
For too long trendy lefties, in their houses in Hampstead and Islington, have stiffled all debate about immigration by labeling people as "racists" who dare to question it. This might have worked very effectively 10 or 20 years ago but people have become aware of this disgraceful strategy and it will no longer work. Trendy lefties are partly responsible for the failure of entire immigrant communities (more noticeably the Muslim community) to integrate into our society. Trendy lefties, for example, led Hate campaigns against any person who dared to criticize the wasteful practices of councils in printing information leaflets in all known languages under the sun. Now we are paying the price for this. Just look at the treatment of British soldiers returning from battle in Afghanistan by SOME Muslims - they were abused and screamed at when they paraded down the street in what should have been a celebration of their contribution.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. The reason why the BNP have gained such inroads is because of these things. We MUST have a sensible immigration policy where only those who can contribute can have residency.
Toolan
By clinging on, hopeless adrift with the real unelected Prime Minister being the twice disgraced Mandelson and an extremely second-rate Cabinet, he is sending New Labour into oblivion for the next 15 years or more. If he were to go now, his replacement could well ask for time to sort out the expenses debacle before going to the country in maybe Autumn ( or early next year) and losing the election but possibly for the shorter term. More so as Cameron is not fully accepted by the electorate at large and seems as untrustworthy as Blair was.
Then, and only then, would someone be addressing the contempt in which politicians are held.
Brown and his bunch of largely unelected deadbeats know that the defeat was due to the public being utterly fed up with Brown's incompetence and the incompetence of his government in general. Furthermore the PM's boorish behaviour and unintelligible speeches have led to voters actually detesting him.
Ukip did well because the majority of voters are eurosceptic and they wanted put a shot ahead of the Tory bows to wake them up to this fact and to fight for renegotiation.
Unfortunately Brown will probably not be forced out as the plotters are such a disparatate lot and are utterly disorganised. One can only hope that his mental state will become even more obvious to Labour members as time goes on. Then the men in white coats can do their job.
The Tores will only get one term in office if they don't learn this lesson of a labour rout. Don't think you can carry on as before - if you do you will only hand more votes to the BNP and other extremist parties.
Labour has suffered its worst post-war election result as it was beaten into third place by UKIP and saw the BNP gain its first seats at Brussels.
Labour's share of the vote at the European elections was just 15.3% - worse than party bosses had feared.
The Tories won with 28.6%, beating Labour in Wales but failing to increase their total share significantly.
The results have sent shockwaves through UK politics and led to renewed calls for Gordon Brown to quit as PM.
The BNP gained a seat in Yorkshire and Humberside and in the north west of England, where party leader Nick Griffin was elected - the first time the anti-immigration party has won seats at national elections.
'Two-fingered salute' NOT V it is something else What??
Their result was condemned across the political spectrum, with both the Tories and Labour calling it a "sad day" for British politics.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "The BNP is like the ultimate protest vote. It is how to deliver the establishment a two-fingered salute. I think largely it is a comment on Westminster politics."
'Mocked and derided'
National Curriculum to include ?Bleeding Obvious?
We have this already. Many a words were said in jest.
Government MPs are depressed, despairing, bewildered, stunned, stalled awaiting slaughter. Every way they turn, they are faced with some damnation or other. Public fury at their expenses, MPs paying money back, sackings, resignations, the poll slump, the plots, a leadership vacuum, email slurs, smears, plots
European Central Bank staff, waving protest placards to the beat of African drummers, on Wednesday staged the first strike in the bank's 10-year history, the day before a critical monetary policy meeting.
No. I think they need the Citalopram
The Government is not soft on crime ? not at all. It is, as usual, focused on its precious system, and not on the people charged with making it work.
I thank you
Firozali A Mulla
My only satisfaction in all of this will be that you'll go down in history as one of this nation's worst Prime Ministers despite your comical hankering for the post for all those years. Like a spoilt child you sulked your way into the job - "If I don't get to be PM I'll hold my breath until I'm sick!". And your defeat, when finally, FINALLY it comes, will be ignominious. And I will rejoice in your downfall. Politics should not be personal, but in your case, Idiot Gordon, I will make an exception. I will dance in the street when you finally pack your sorry little cases and GO. JUST. GO.
Toolan
As for those who want to stop the immigrants, well how about you take back all the parasites camped around the world who are feeding off good local people by spreading the same neo-liberal garbage they claim to be trying to escape; and we'll take all of the hard working socially aware migrants that english can't handle cause they speak funny or are the wrong colour. There are far more english vermin spread around this planet than there are non english born humans in england, and I know who I prefer to have living next door. Here's a hint they've never heard of Scunthorpe.
Yes, we're angry over the expenses and all the other catastrophes the Government (and Big Business with the Government's collusion) have brought upon us, but most of all we want Brown gone. He has no mandate from the people and was never voted into power. What's next - handing the Prime Minister's post to LORD Mandelson of Sleaze?
Either have a leadership election or just pack-up and leave.